Toy trackway system



Oct. 27, 1964 EINFALT TOY TRACKWAY SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb.28, 1961 IFIG.2'

FIG.3

ALFRED EINFALT ATTORNEYS Oct. 27, 1964 A. ElNFALT 3,154,024

TOY TRACKWAY SYSTEM Filed Feb. 28, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ALFREDEINFALT ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,154,024 TOY TRACKWAY SiZisTEMAlfred Einfalt, Nurnberg, Germany, assignor to Gehruder EinfaltBlechspielwarenfabrik, Number-g, Germany, a

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K Filed Feb. 28, 1961, Ser. No. 92,192 Claims priority, applicationGermany, Mar. 2, 1966 8 Claims. (Cl. 104-60) \teresting subject ofoccupation for children with continually recurring surprising ideas. Theattraction for children is therefore very considerable.

To attain this object, the toy according to the invention is constructedin such a manner that tracks arranged on and forming the runway areinterconnected by two branch tracks and in addition lead into two innerconnecting tracks which are at a difierent level to the branch tracks,control means being provided for stopping the vehicles and branch guidesfor guiding the vehicles are actuated by the vehicles themselves.

At the same time it is particularly advantageous to construct the branchtracks as two arcuate curves which are arranged in the form of ahyperbola on the runway between the two outer track sections becausethen the toy vehicles on the runway can always run only in onedirection. The inner tracks are conducted over the branch tracks bymeans of a bridge. The runway therefore has no crossings.

The attraction of the toy is further enhanced by providing stoppingmeans on the outer track sections between the branch tracks. Thestopping members thereof always bring the approaching vehicle to astandstill. It can only continue its travel after the stopping means inquestion has been disengaged or rendered ineffective. The disengagementof the stopping means is effected by means of a control elementprojecting into the runway at another point thereof. The control membersfor the stopping means on the outer track sections are preferablylocated near the inner tracks remote from the stopping points. Thisproduces an unexpected eifect in that the vehicle brought to astandstill at a stopping point is again set in motion without anyapparent'reason. The stopping of a vehicle is efiected by 'a drop-plateon the vehicle which falls into a slot in the track. The lifting ordisengagement of the drop-plate is effected by a plate which is mountedon a pivot lever and can be pressed up to move the drop-plate out of theslot. To effect this, the control member in question is mounted on theend of another lever which is itself mounted on the underside of therunway. Its centre of gravity is located between the stopping point andits bearing point, so that when at rest, the control member is always inoperative position at the stopping point.

In order to prevent a stopped vehicle from being run into by a followingvehicle, it is also proposed, according to the invention, to control aswitch plate from the stopping point which switches the followingvehicle on to a branch track if the stopping point is occupied.

For this purpose a two-armed lever is preferably used, one arm of whichis depressed by the stopped vehicle so that its other arm swings theswitch plate into the track. The centre of gravity of the two-armedlever is located between its bearing point and the switch plate so that,when at rest, the run-in to the outer track is always open.

Other features and advantages will become apparent ddii hz i Patented0st. 27, 1964 "ice from the following description of the accompanyingdrawings in which an embodiment of the invention is illustrateddiagrammatically by way of example.

FIG. 1 shows the runway in top plan view;

FIG. 2 is a section on line 11-11 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken in the plane III-Ill of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section similar to that shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 a section taken on line V-V of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 5, while FIG. 7 shows atoy vehicle in elevation, partly broken away, and

FIG. 8 a bottom plan view of a toy vehicle with the bottom plate partlyremoved.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, two track sections 12 and b are arranged atthe outer edges of a plate a carrying the runway. The track b leads intoan inner track d over curved track sections 0 and 0 The track b leadsinto a connecting inner track d over curved track sections c and 0Furthermore, the outer tracks b and 12 are connected by means of thebranch track sections e and e These tracks are arranged in such a manneron the plate a that at the transition point between outer track andcurved track they always lead into or out from the latter.

The inner connecting track sections d and d are con ducted over thebranch track sections e and e by means of a bridge f. The run-in andrun-out to and from the bridge are formed by ramps g and g which areproduced by bulging the plate a upwards. Stopping means i and i areprovided in the sections h and h of the outer sections b and b Thesestopping means are formed by slots k and k in the plate a into whichslots a drop-plate l on the vehicles m drops when a vehicle runs over aslot. The drop-plates I stop the driving mechanism of the vehicle bytheir teeth n engaging in a pinion 0, and in addition an abutment p onthe drop-plate l brings the vehicle to a standstill at the pointprovided for the purpose.

To prevent a vehicle thus stopped from being run into by a followingvehicle, a control member q or q is provided at each of the stoppingpoints i or i which member is actuated by the vehicle brought to astandstill at a stopping point and effects the shifting of a switchplate r or r connected to it. These switch plates deflect a followingvehicle on to a branch track e or e Consequently a collision of twovehicles on the runway is reliably prevented. The control members q andq each preferably consist of a two-armed lever s or s with a switchplate r or r mounted on the underside of the plate. The centre ofgravity of each of these levers is located between its switch plate andits bearing point (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

The release of a vehicle brought to a standstill at one of the stoppingpoints i or i is eifected by control members t or which control membersare actuated by a vehicle running over them. It is also advantageous inthis connection for the control member t to be controlled from the innertrack d and the control member t from the inner track d The connectionof the control members t t with their respective control plates a u iseffected by pivot levers v and v respectively, which levers are locatedon the underside of the plates u u and their bearing points (FIGS. 3 and4).

I claim:

1. A toy composed of a runway for accommodating a plurality of vehiclesrunning thereon, said runway comprising two outer track sectionsarranged in spaced parallel relation, two separate branch track sectionsinterconnecting said outer track sections at spaced branching points oneach outer track, two inner track sections arranged in parallel relationbetween said outer track sections, and two pairs of curved tracksections each pair savanna forming extensions of the two ends of one ofsaid outer track sections leading to the adjacent ends of one of saidinner track sections, said inner track sections and said branch tracksections being mounted to cross each other at different levels andincluding switch plates provided at two of said branching points forswitching vehicles on to a branch line, and switch control meansoperated by a vehicle brought to a standstill at a stopping point in anouter track section for controlling the position of said switch platesto divert an oncoming vehicle so as to avoid a collision.

2. A toy according to claim 1, wherein said switch control meanscomprises a two-armed lever, one arm of which is depressed by a vehicleat a stopping point, the other arm of which being threby raised andactuates a switch plate which deflects on to a branch track a vehiclerunning on an outer track section.

3. A toy according to claim 2, wherein the center of gravity of thetwo-armed lever is located between its bearing point on the runway andits switch plate.

4. A toy composed of a runway for accommodating a plurality of vehiclesrunning thereon in one direction and consisting of a plurality ofinterconnecting tracks, said runway comprising two outer track sectionsarranged in spaced parallel relation, two separate branch track sectionsinterconnecting said outer track sections at spaced branching points oneach outer track, two inner track sections arranged in parallel relationbetween said outer track sections, and two pairs of curved tracksections each pair forming extensions of the two ends of one of saidouter track sections leading to the adjacent ends of one of said innertrack sections, said inner track sections and said branch track sectionsbeing mounted to cross 5 each other at different levels, track switchingmembers at certain of said branching points to effect changes in thevehicle track, vehicle-stopping means located at stopping points in saidtrack sections, vehicle-actuated members located at said stopping pointsfor effecting operation of certain ones of said track switching members.

5. A toy according to claim 4 wherein said vehicle stopping means arelocated at stopping points in the outer track sections between thebranching points of said branch sections.

6. A toy according to claim 5 wherein additional vehicle-operatedcontrol members are provided on the connecting inner track sections andoperating to release the stopping means at said stopping points.

7. Toy according to claim 6, wherein the additional control members forthe stopping points are each arranged on the inner track section remotefrom the outer track section in which the particular stopping point islocated.

8. A toy according to claim 6, wherein each of said additional controlmembers comprises a two-armed pivot lever mounted on the underside ofthe runway in such a manner that its center of gravity is locatedbetween its pivot axis and the stopping point.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,231,089 Rorer Feb, 11, 1941 2,664,831 Fields Jan. 5, 1954 FOREIGNPATENTS 638,194 Germany Nov. 11, 1936 828,517 Germany Jan. 17, 1952

1. A TOY COMPOSED OF A RUNWAY FOR ACCOMMODATING A PLURALITY OF VEHICLESRUNNING THEREON, SAID RUNWAY COMPRISING TWO OUTER TRACK SECTIONSARRANGED IN SPACED PARALLEL RELATION, TWO SEPARATE BRANCH TRACK SECTIONSINTERCONNECTING SAID OUTER TRACK SECTIONS AT SPACED BRANCHING POINTS ONEACH OUTER TRACK, TWO INNER TRACK SECTIONS ARRANGED IN PARALLEL RELATIONBETWEEN SAID OUTER TRACK SECTIONS, AND TWO PAIRS OF CURVED TRACKSECTIONS EACH PAIR FORMING EXTENSIONS OF THE TWO ENDS OF ONE OF SAIDOUTER TRACK SECTIONS LEADING TO THE ADJACENT ENDS OF ONE OF SAID INNERTRACK SECTIONS, SAID INNER TRACK SECTIONS AND SAID